'Twas three days before...

‘Twas three days before the big bazaar
And all through our place
Not a surface was clean
Not even a plate.

The counter was buried in felt, rhinestones, and glue guns
The island was covered with card-making supplies
Things like markers, paper, stamps and embossers
The ping-pong table was hidden from our eyes.

The laundry sat forgotten, overflowing the hamper.
The dishes? They were piled high next to the sink.
Bathrooms were off-limits to drop-in visitors
The floor was spotted with a mysterious ink.

I sat, exhausted, with burned finger tips
Thought to myself, why, oh why, am I doing this?!
I pictured next year. Would I do this again?
And answered: Yes, with a housekeeper, it’ll be a cinch!

(Written when I should have been cleaning!)  -Katie

Family Pictures 2011

Bet you didn't expect that, eh?  Two posts in two days!  :)

I had to share these, even though it's midnight. 

The last time we had family photos was, sadly, in June of 2008.

To see how much time has passed (by seeing how little the kids were), go to

this post.

~~~

Yesterday, we woke up to beautiful blue skies, and a high of 35 degrees.

Perfect day for family photos!  In between meetings, we headed to a friend's house

and had another friend take photos of our family.  Here are just a couple of my favorites.

(If you're on Facebook, many more can be seen in the "2011 Family Pictures" album).

Some of my favorites are the unstaged photos...the outtakes that show us as we really are.





A month in photos

{He walked too fast to get a good photo!}

{Proof that Nerf wars can be dangerous!}

{Trick-or-treating with the Sloan's}

{No more 'playdates' for Ryan...now they have jam sessions.}

{Our volleyball team ~ missing two}

{Gorgeous skies out in the country}

{Listening to Randy read "The Cremation of Sam McGee" on his phone}

{Sharing her 'Student of the Week' poster}

{Ryan's Veteran's Day music concert}

{Fun with Trevor}

{Emma's class is entering their reindeer wreath in the Festival of Trees}

{Ryan's rough draft for a school project}

{Emma made her own Christmas countdown}

{Emma learned how to knit at Pilgrim Days at school}

~~~
I apologize for the silence here on the blog.  I've been working hard on items for the  upcoming Holiday Bazaar (Dec 3rd).  I'll be back regularing again after that.